Attitudes About an Asian Horror Flick

By Christine StoddardQuailBellMagazine.comSuperstition and gore? Check. Adrenaline-inducing music? Check. Good lookin' damsel in distress? Check. Okay, so what distinguishes Singaporean director Kelvin Tong's “The Maid” from other horror films? Simple: the way it amps up an already morbid folktale. This is one ghostly fairytale Disney would not dare re-create. Nor can they. The film's biggest pluses—raw cinematography, eerie juxtapositions, and the narrative's slight feminist strain—have no place in Mickey Mouse land.

“The Maid” begins with Rosa, a young Filipina lady, coming to Singapore to work as a housemaid. She arrives on the first day of the Seventh Month, when, according to Chinese folklore, Hell opens its gates so the dead may wander the earth. Soon after settling in with an elderly couple and their mentally handicapped son, Rosa begins seeing ghosts. Mayhem, mystery, and magic all ensue from there.

Perhaps the most appealing element in the film is the way the cinematography propels the story. The images are lush, not in their vibrancy, but rather in their capturing of lonely, faded colors. From beige to pistachio to black, the colors evoke Rosa's feelings of confusion and alienation in her new country. Unusual angles—from behind Rosa, to the side of Rosa, from the ground looking up at Rosa—put the audience in the ghost's position on more than one occasion. It's refreshing to experience the world the way the villain sees it, if only for a change of pace. In this case, it allows us to better connect to the ghost, especially when she tells the circumstances of her horrific death.

Also notable are the film's unorthodox contrasts. Filipino meets Chinese. City meets country. Precocious meets Down Syndrome. Ancient meets modern. In the true spirit of magical realism, the film's full of pairings that might not make sense in any other context, but jive well in “The Maid.”

As for the feminist aspect, you'll have to subject yourself to the whole film before you discover everything Rosa attempts to escape. Sometimes that's a bit of an arduous task—getting to the next scene, that is. “The Maid” is not without its fair share of melodrama and somewhat annoying stream of consciousness voice-over. Furthermore, the ghost sightings verge on the excessive, unless you're a fan of fake blood.

Stir all that up into one big pot of soupy staples and East Asian delicacies, though, and you have more than a decent film. At the very least you can say you caught a glimpse of another culture and its myths.